What Does a Mental Health Specialist Do?

We looked at the average Mental Health Specialist annual salary and compared it with the average of a Community Health Counselor. Generally speaking, Community Health Counselors receive $3,859 lower pay than Mental Health Specialists per year.

While the salaries between these two careers can be different, they do share some of the same responsibilities. Employees in both Mental Health Specialists and Community Health Counselors positions are skilled in Mental Health, Crisis Intervention, and CPR.

These skill sets are where the common ground ends though. A Mental Health Specialist responsibility is more likely to require skills like "RN," "Behavioral Issues," "Clinical Staff," and "CPI." Whereas a Community Health Counselor requires skills like "Personal Care," "Bipolar Disorder," "Intellectual Disabilities," and "New Tools." Just by understanding these different skills you can see how different these careers are.

Community Health Counselors tend to make the most money in the Internet industry by averaging a salary of $60,634. In contrast, Mental Health Specialists make the biggest average salary of $50,859 in the Government industry.

The education levels that Community Health Counselors earn is a bit different than that of Mental Health Specialists. In particular, Community Health Counselors are 3.9% more likely to graduate with a Master's Degree than a Mental Health Specialist. Additionally, they're 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

Next up, we have the Youth Care Specialist profession to look over. This career brings along a higher average salary when compared to a Mental Health Specialist annual salary. In fact, Youth Care Specialists salary difference is $20,742 higher than the salary of Mental Health Specialists per year.

Not everything about these jobs is different. Take their skills, for example. Mental Health Specialists and Youth Care Specialists both include similar skills like "Mental Health," "Crisis Intervention," and "CPR" on their resumes.

But both careers also use different skills, according to real Mental Health Specialist resumes. While Mental Health Specialist responsibilities can utilize skills like "RN," "Clinical Staff," "Support Services," and "Community Agencies," some Youth Care Specialists use skills like "Customer Service," "Direct Care," "Incident Reports," and "Encourages Participation."

It's been discovered that Youth Care Specialists earn higher salaries compared to Mental Health Specialists, but we wanted to find out where Youth Care Specialists earned the most pay. The answer? The Retail industry. The average salary in the industry is $66,111. Additionally, Mental Health Specialists earn the highest paychecks in the Government with an average salary of $50,859.

On the topic of education, Youth Care Specialists earn lower levels of education than Mental Health Specialists. In general, they're 26.3% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree and 0.1% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The third profession we take a look at is Living Specialist. On an average scale, these workers bring in lower salaries than Mental Health Specialists. In fact, they make a $6,870 lower salary per year.

By looking over several Mental Health Specialists and Living Specialists resumes, we found that both roles utilize similar skills, such as "Mental Health," "Crisis Intervention," and "CPR." But beyond that the careers look very different.

As mentioned, these two careers differ between other skills that are required for performing the work exceedingly well. For example, gathering from Mental Health Specialists resumes, they are more likely to have skills like "RN," "Vital Signs," "Behavioral Issues," and "Group Therapy." But a Living Specialist might have skills like "Intellectual Disabilities," "Personal Care," "Staff Meetings," and "Meal Prep."

Living Specialists typically study at lower levels compared with Mental Health Specialists. For example, they're 16.1% less likely to graduate with a Master's Degree, and 1.0% less likely to earn a Doctoral Degree.

The fourth career we look at typically earns higher pay than Mental Health Specialists. On average, Intervention Specialists earn a difference of $1,423 higher per year.

While their salaries may vary, Mental Health Specialists and Intervention Specialists both use similar skills to perform their jobs. Resumes from both professions include skills like "Mental Health," "Crisis Intervention," and "Communication. "

While some skills are shared by these professions, there are some differences to note. "CPR," "RN," "Vital Signs," and "Patient Care" are skills that have shown up on Mental Health Specialists resumes. Additionally, Intervention Specialist uses skills like Classroom Management, Special Education, Behavior Analysis, and Professional Development on their resumes.

Now, let's take a closer look at the financials in each career. The Health Care industry tends to pay more for Intervention Specialists with an average of $69,129. While the highest Mental Health Specialist annual salary comes from the Government industry.

In general, Intervention Specialists reach similar levels of education when compared to Mental Health Specialists resumes. Intervention Specialists are 3.9% more likely to earn their Master's Degree and 0.0% more likely to graduate with a Doctoral Degree.